Printing device.



PATENTED DEC. 24, 1907.

A. L. PATTERSON. PRINTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY10,1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W/T/VESSES //VVEN7-0/? ARTHUR L-PATTEHSUN (524 A TTORNE Y8 PATENTED DEC.24, 1907.

A. L. PATTERSON.

PRINTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 10,1907.

lllllllll G INVENTOR -PATTEHSUN A TTOHN E Y8- 4 ARTHUR L ARTHUR LOWPATTERSON, OF ALBEMARLE, NORTH CAROLINA.

PRINTING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 24, 1907.

Application filed May 10, 1907. Serial No. 372.887-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR Low PATTER- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Albemarle, in the county of Stanley and State ofNorth-Carolina, have invented a new and useful ImprovementinLabel-Printing Devices, of which the following is a specification.

' Labels for hosiery and many other similar articles of merchandise aregenerally printed at the printing oflice with the wholesalers name andtrade-mark, but one or more blank spaces are left for the size and callnumbers which, owing to the variations, are subsequently put on at thefactory. It is difficult to stam these numbers neatly with an ordinaryru ber stamp and often an order regpires several cases to be numberedwith.

flerent call numbers, and in such instances it is necessary to count outthe required number for each case.

My invention is designed to provide a printing device for use at thefactory for the purpose of adding to the printed labels the subsequentspecific number and designa-v tions in a rapid, neat, accurate andconvenient manner and at the same time counting out any desired numberand announcing the comlpletion of the batch by a bell signal.

T e invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement ofparts, which I will now proceed to describe with reference to thedrawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the entire deviceresting on a table T. Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the labelholding portion of the device. Fig. 3 is a vertical section takenthrough line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4.- is a vertical section taken throughtl printing and label holding mechanism. 5 is a sectional detail on line5-5 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1, A represents a sub base upon which is mounted asuperposed base B carrying a label holder, a rinting device C, a counterD, and a bell Eli combined with each other in a coactive relation.

An inking pad 16 is mounted on the base A and the printing device C isarranged between the ink ad and the labelholder and is adapted, see Fig.4-, to be swung over to contact with the ink pad in one position, asshown in dotted lines, and then be swung over to and down upon thelabels as shown The label holder, see Figs. 1, 2 and 4, has its basicportion B adjustably connected to the main base A by a clamp bolt Fwhose shank goes through a hole in the main or sub base A and has in arecess in the lower surface of the base a large overlapping head orwasher G, Fig. ,4. This hole through. the sub-base is made much largerthan the bolt F in every direction, so as to give an adjust ment in twodirections, one longitudinally to the sub-base as seen in Fig. 4 andalso another adjustment transversely to the subbase as seen in Fi 3.Thisadjustment permits the label ho der to be adapted in position to theprinting device 0, so as to accommo'date any size or shape of label.

The numeral 1 designates a stack of labels which as seen in Fig. 1, havealready been printed at the printing oflice, but are yet to receive thesize or call numbers, or other designation, in the-rectangular s aces yreserved for them and which it is t e function of my invention to apply.These labels rest upon a base plate 23, 1* ig. 2, and are retained inplace by an. adjustable overhanging lip 2 arranged at the end, anadjustable standing flange 4 forming a gage arranged at the side, astationary overhanging lip 6 opposite the flange 4, and a press plate 7pressing upon the top end portions of the stack of labels, as shown inFig. 1.

The adjustable end lip 2 is attached to a slotted shank portion 11which, by means of a set screw 3, 1s fixed in place to an ad'ustmeritrequired by the length of the abel The standing side gage 4 is, in likeman- ,ner, attached to a slotted shank portion 12 which by means of aset screw 5 1S fixed to any adjustment required by the width of thelabel. The standing flange 4 is not exactly vertical, but leans slightlytoward the printing devices, for the purpose hereafter described.

The press plate 7, which rests on to of the ends of the stack of labels1, has an 0 set 8 against which lies the bent end of a spring 9 whichtends to force the press plate down with an elastic pressure to clampthe labels at this end. This press plate is guided in its up and downmovement by two pins 10, as seen in Figs. 3 and 5, which pins enterholes in thesubjacent base and prevent the press plate from turning.

The printing device consists of a swinging type carrier mounted uponfour links 14 which are pivoted at their upper ends to the carriage andat their lower ends to a block 15, for a parallel motion of thecarriage,- which carrier as it swings between the two positions showninFig. 4, always maintains a horizontal position. The carrier of theprinting device is slotted, as seen at 13 in igs. 1 and 4, and in thisslot is adjustably secured the screw threaded stem of the type bed Xwhose position is fixed by the screw knob :10 on topof the carriage. Bymeans of this screw knob and slot 13 the position of the type bed may beadjusted sidewise to the plane of movement, or be entirely turned aroundor inverted to accommodate the form of the label and the position of thespace ghereon which is to receive the printed num- Pivoted to one of thelinks l4is a horizontal rod 17 whose opposite end is bent and made toengage the teeth of a ratchet wheel 18, being held down to engagementwith the ratchet wheel by a spring 24. The ratchet wheel contains tenteeth and is fixed rigidly to the end of a worm l9 journaled in suitablebearings. One side of this worm is housed by a casing 20 on a graduatedscale on which are marked numbers. shaft 21 is journaled in bearingsbeside the WOI'm and parallel thereto and has a traversing pointer 22whose end is bent down and enters the groove of the worm so that as theworm turns the pointer is carried along in the spiral groove along thenumbered scale and t e rock shaft slides longitudinally in its bearings.peri hery is formed a depression or cavity 26, 'ig. 6, and when thepointer 19 reaches the cavity the pointer drops into it and allows ahammer 25 on an arm of the rock shaft to strike the bell. It will beseen that at each printing movement of the carriage the-ratchet wheeland worm are turned the distance of one tooth. To set the apparatus fornting a redetermined' number of the pointer 22 out of the worm and therock shaft is ,then slid longitudinally until the pointer is oppositethe desired number. The pointer is then dropped into mesh with'the worm;then, as the ratchet wheel is intermittently turned by the oscillationof the type casing the ointer traverses the worm to the end and t iendropping into the cavity 26, as seen in dotted hnes in Fig. 6, announcesthe completion of the printing of the reggplsite number of labels:

important advantage of my invention is, that'a quantity of labels may beinserted in a stack at one time and be printed neatly and quickly at anydesired spot, the label thus rinted being removed to expose the nextabel below for the next impression. This is a great economy of laborover the old method of picking up a single label inserting it in place,printing 1t and then removing it.

A .rock

At the end of the worm on its ri label s the rock s aft 21 is rocked tothrow 7 It is only necessary in my device to remove the top label afterrinting and this is done as follows: The cal number and sizes areusually stamped upon one end of the label, as at the spaces marked y,and this end of the stack of labels is held down by the press plate,leaving the other end free to be buckled up and lifted out above the endli by the thumb and finger and then be pu led. out from under the pressplate withoutzdisturbing those underneath.

' For the purposes of my invention it is important to secure perfect reistration on each label, and as the stack of labels grow less the pointof printing on the label would adually run off to one side owing to thecircular swing of the rinting carriage, if it were not for the fact t atthe standing flange or gage 4 is made to lean toward the rintingcarriage as seen in Figs. 1 and 4, w ich causes the bottom label of thestack to be the same distance from the center of oscillation of thecarriage as the top label.

My invention enables the operator to print exactly the number of labelsdesired and saves the labor of printing by hand. It also saves the lossof mutilated orlspoiled labels which might otherwise be incorrectlyprinted or blurred, and it also acts as a check on the packing andshipping department.

In making use of my invention, I do not limit myself to the exact formof type holder, as these and other details may be varied withoutdeparting from my invention.

1. A label rinting device, comprising a base A, a para el motiontype-carrier mounted thereon and having two swinging. links on each sideand abase B mounted on the base A and rovided with means for adjustmentin two directions, a label holder arranged on the base B beside saidtype carrier and an ink pad arranged on the base A on the other side, ofthe type carrier.

2. A label printing device, comprising a sub-base A, a swinging typecarriermounted on' the middle of the same, a superposed base B mountedon the end of the sub-base and provided with means for adjustment in twodirections, and a label holder arranged on the super osed base withinthe limits of the swing of t e type carrier.

3. A label printing device, comprising a sub-base A, a parallel motiontype carrier having a slot, a type bed having a screw threaded stemextended through the slot of the carrier, a screw threaded handle turnedupon said threaded stem above the type carrier and adjustably clampingthe t e bed, a base B mounted on and adjustable 1n relation to thesub-base and bearing a label holder arranged beside and adapted toregister. with the type carrier.

I 4. A label printing device, comprising a sub base A, a swinging typecarrier mounted thereon, a holder for holding a stack of labels labelholder arranged beside the ,t e carrier while being printed, consistingof a plate and adapted to hold a stack of la els, said having at oneendan adjustable overhanging label holder having a gage plate arranged tolip for the ends of the labels, an elastic adjust the stack oflabels tothe circular 15 5 presser for pressing down upon the other end swing ofthe type carrier to insure continued of the stack of labels, and anadjustable and accurate registration as the labels of the gage late atthe side and a base B for said stack are successively rinted andremoved.-

label older adjustably mounted onthe sub ARTHUR L ,W PATTERSON. base. 4Witnesses: I 10 5. In a label printing device, the combina- M. M. DAY,

tion with an oscillatingtype carrier; of a :J. S. SMrTH.

